Pucallpa: goodbyes

"ill see you when you come back... IF you come back"
this comment has stayed in my mind because almost every peruvian said it to me when i told them where i was going. apparently this isolated jungle town is renouned for swallowing up any male who dares venture there. the people there are said to have a special knowledge of jungle herbs and their uses. one rumour has it that a girl can give a man some herb that makes him fall in love with her. when you see the girls here you might be inclined to say this is the one place on the world that least needs such voodoo!! though i have to admit, there were some moments that i suspected that i too may have been spiked!
finally i pulled myself together and and snapped out of my dream state of living a happy and fulfilled life growing tropical fruit on a farm and transported myself back to smoggy Lima to continue on the journey. thuough a deep impression has been left on me by that very special place on planet earth called pucallpa.

Killed Snake on the street in Puerto Callao.

visit to the cemetary on "day of the dead"

one resident gets a jazz tune

this monument is a tomb for the victims of a plane crash that happened some years ago in wich all were killed except one foreign girl who was cared for in the jungle by locals who treated her with natural medicines. the story is told in a spanish language film called "Juliana".
vanessa told me her mother was supposed to be on that very plane but had missed it.

Visit to vanessas parents garden, outside the town where they grow many different fruit.

children carrying coconuts, the girl on the left (carrying two boots by the laces) is crying because she got a fright when we passed her by in the "moto carro"

Aguaje tree


Piña (pineapple)

after an hour of looking at and collecting some bags of fruit in the field, the heat was so high here i was getting desperate for some water. i chewed a lot of sugar cane but at this stage i was so dehydrated that the energy expenditure of chewing was hardly worth the liquid rewards. there was extremely loud cumbia music coming from one of the wooden huts and on closer inspection i realised that it was in fact a bar! .. so i went in to see what kind of drinks they sell. inside there was just one girl leaning agains the counter beside the blasting stereo. the drinks options were simple... beer or beer.. so i opted for a nice cold beer and sat down with it at the one table. it slowly broaght me back to life. and i though what a great add for beer this would make.

"Elaborada en la selva peruana"

made in the peruvian jungle

Vanessas cat "Gringo"..

...and "sambito"

some hungry dog outside.

beem me up scotty! the world awaits ..



todays song
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Bareto: Mujer hilandera